Epigenetics News and Research

Latest Epigenetics News and Research

IDIBELL and IDIPAZ scientists identify epigenetic alterations in CVID

Researchers of the Chromatin and Disease Group from the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute and La Paz Hospital have identified epigenetic alterations in Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID), the most common primary immunodeficiency, using as a starting point genetically identical monozygotic twins discordant for the disease.

18 Jun 2015

Melanoma patients with high levels of H2A.Z.2 protein less likely to survive

Melanoma patients with high levels of a protein that controls the expression of pro-growth genes are less likely to survive, according to a study led by researchers at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published online in the journal Molecular Cell.

18 Jun 2015

Singapore's first large-scale pre-pregnancy study launched

KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore Institute for Clinical Science of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, the National University of Singapore and the National University Health System have launched Singapore's first large-scale pre-conception study which will involve 1,000 local couples.

18 Jun 2015

Australian researchers discover gene involved in muscular dystrophy

Australian researchers have made a critical discovery about a gene involved in muscular dystrophy that could lead to future therapies for the currently untreatable disease.

18 Jun 2015

Highly efficient ChIP assay kit for FFPE samples

Chromatrap®, a business unit of Porvair Sciences, has introduced a new Formaldehyde Fixed Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) ChIP Kit which overcomes the widely acknowledged shortfalls of the technique.

From Chromatrap® - Porvair Sciences Ltd 17 Jun 2015

Optimised ChIP protocols for qPCR and sequencing

Chromatrap®, a business unit of Porvair Sciences, has announced a new web page that brings together protocols developed using their proprietary solid state chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) technology.

From Chromatrap® - Porvair Sciences Ltd 17 Jun 2015

Novartis presents positive Phase III results of Farydak therapy at EHA

Novartis today presented results from a pivotal Phase III clinical trial exploratory subgroup analysis showing a 7.8-month improvement in median progression-free survival when using Farydak in combination with bortezomib and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed or relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma who had received two or more prior regimens, including bortezomib and an immunomodulatory agent.

16 Jun 2015

Scientists develop new technique to analyze bacterial populations

Scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have developed a new technique to more precisely analyze bacterial populations, to reveal epigenetic mechanisms that can drive virulence. The new methods hold the promise of a potent new tool to offset the growing challenge of antibiotic resistance by bacterial pathogens.

16 Jun 2015

Certain ARID1a mutations sensitize some tumors to PARP inhibitor drugs

Mutations in ARID1a, which are common in many cancer types, disrupt DNA damage repair in cancer cells, allowing the cancer to progress. This gene may also be an Achilles' heel when treating certain tumors, according to a team of researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

12 Jun 2015

Study on how maternal proteins help regulate initial cell divisions during early development

Researchers in the University of Georgia's Regenerative Bioscience Center are visually capturing the first process of chromosome alignment and separation at the beginning of mouse development. The findings could lead to answers to questions concerning the mechanisms leading to birth defects and chromosome instability in cancer cells.

10 Jun 2015

New UAB research identifies link between temporal lobe epilepsy and memory loss

New research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham identifies an epigenetic cause for why patients with temporal lobe epilepsy tend to have memory loss, and suggests a potential way to reverse that loss.

8 Jun 2015

University of Chicago scientists develop new technique to accurately measure epigenetic changes

One of the most widely used tools in epigenetics research - the study of how DNA packaging affects gene expression - is chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), a technique that allows researchers to examine interactions between specific proteins and genomic regions. However, ChIP is a relative measurement, and has significant limitations that can lead to errors, poor reproducibility and an inability to be compared between experiments.

4 Jun 2015

US Equity Holdings announces new funding to launch Aelan Cell Technologies

US Equity Holdings announced yesterday that it has secured funding to launch Aelan Cell Technologies, a biotech startup engaged in the research, discovery, development and commercialization of innovative biomedical technologies and diagnostic tools for the advancement of human health and longevity.

4 Jun 2015

New JIC research helps to settle important debate on epigenetic inheritance

New research findings by John Innes Centre scientists have helped to settle an important debate in the field of epigenetic inheritance. Using the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana as a model for their research, Professor Martin Howard, Professor Caroline Dean and members of their labs, have been trying to understand how organisms 'remember' past events at the cellular level.

4 Jun 2015

New data on Resverlogix RVX-208 for CKD treatment presented at ERA-EDTA Congress

Resverlogix Corp. today announced that new data on RVX-208 was presented at the ERA-EDTA Congress in London, England in a poster entitled: "Effects of RVX-208, a First-in-Class Epigenetic BET-Inhibitor, on Key Renal Parameters in Subjects with a History of CVD, and Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD); a Post-hoc Analysis of Patients from the ASSERT, SUSTAIN and ASSURE Clinical Trials."

1 Jun 2015

Boehringer announces LUX-Lung 8 data that compares efficacy of afatinib, erlotinib in patients with advanced SCC

Boehringer Ingelheim today announced overall survival (OS) results from the LUX-Lung 8 trial (NCT01523587) that directly compared the efficacy and safety of two EGFR-directed treatments, afatinib and erlotinib, in patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lung, progressing after treatment with first-line chemotherapy. Treatment with afatinib significantly reduced the risk of death by 19%, extending the survival of patients to a median of 7.9 months compared to 6.8 months on erlotinib.

1 Jun 2015

Process of aging could be delayed in human cell lines

Can the process of aging be delayed or even reversed? Research led by specially appointed Professor Jun-Ichi Hayashi from the University of Tsukuba in Japan has shown that, in human cell lines at least, it can. They also found that the regulation of two genes involved with the production of glycine, the smallest and simplest amino acid, is partly responsible for some of the characteristics of aging.

1 Jun 2015

MHICN expands clinical research program in collaboration with Erasmus Medical Center and ErasmusAGE

Metagenics Healthcare Institute for Clinical Nutrition announced today an expanded clinical research program in collaboration with Erasmus Medical Center and ErasmusAGE, from Rotterdam, the Netherlands – a leading global healthcare center in epidemiology and health outcomes research.

1 Jun 2015

Precision medicine helps improve patient health and reduces risk of side effects, says Penn Medical School dean

The rapidly emerging field of precision medicine is a "disruptive innovation" that offers the possibility of remarkably fine-tuned remedies to improve patient health while minimizing the risk of harmful side effects, says J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD, dean of the Perelman School of Medicine and executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System, in this week's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

1 Jun 2015

KeyGenes platform could be useful for testing quality of stem cell transplants

A snapshot of gene activity is now all that's necessary to determine what organ or tissue type that a cluster of fetal stem cells will ultimately become. An algorithm developed by a team of Dutch scientists makes it possible to match what's happening inside of an immature stem cell to known human fetal cell gene expression, thus identifying what the stem cell has the potential to be.

30 May 2015